despotism

Noun

Meaning

The power, spirit, or principles of a despot; absolute control over others; tyrannical sway; tyranny.

A government which is directed by a despot; a despotic monarchy; absolutism; autocracy.

Source: Webster's dictionary

Synonyms

dictatorship absolutism tyranny shogunate autocracy caesarism authoritarianism monocracy Stalinism totalitarianism one-man rule nazism national socialism abuse monarchy
Show all synonyms

Antonyms

republic commonwealth patriarchate duchy commonweal respect
Show all antonyms

Hypernyms

control dominance ascendancy autocracy ascendency ascendance

Hyponyms

police state

Related terms

despot despotic despotate

Phrases with the word

benevolent despotism despotism tzarism papal despotism

Examples

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty. Thomas Jefferson

We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed. Thomas Jefferson

Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism. Barry Goldwater

The revolutionary government is the despotism of liberty against tyranny. Georg Büchner

Bureaucracy, the rule of no one, has become the modern form of despotism. Mary McCarthy

Despotism can no more exist in a nation until the liberty of the press be destroyed than the night can happen before the sun is set. Charles Caleb Colton

Close letter words and terms

despoticalness despotick despoticly despotism tzarism despotist despotize